


You should go to bed

by thefamilyrat



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, No Spoilers, Sickfic, everyone takes care of byleth cause he cant take care of himself basically, no route
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-04
Updated: 2020-01-05
Packaged: 2020-10-06 22:29:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20514533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thefamilyrat/pseuds/thefamilyrat
Summary: Byleth does a lot around the monastery and seems to always be there for everyone but that has to catch up eventually. Now Byleth is the one that needs taking care off and everyone at the monastery is there to help.





	1. Chapter 1

Byleth is not one to take the day easy. When he isn't training he can be seen running around the monastery returning lost items, gardening in the greenhouse with various students, and eating in the dining hall throughout the day. Today was no different for the professor as he sat in his room grading papers from yesterday night’s homework. The differences between the student’s handwriting never failed to put a smile on his face from Hilda’s letters dotted with hearts to Linhardt’s writing that often seemed to drag down the page as he most likely fell asleep during writing. Only when he was finally done grading did he notice that sunlight was flooding into his room from his window.  _ ‘Jeez you finally came back to the present Byleth?’ _ He heard a mocking voice echo in his head from Sothis. _ ‘ I've been trying to get your attention for hours! How dare you ignore me.’  _ He shook his head softly at her ramblings about how he stayed up for the entire night and as a result, she couldn’t get a good night's sleep as well. He let his eyes shut for a bit while sitting at the desk until he heard the church bell signaling the start of the day. Did he really stay awake that long? He sat there, eyebrows slightly furrowed before getting up and collecting the material needed for today’s lecture. However, as he stood up the world seemed to tilt unpleasantly. ‘Strange’ he thought without much alarm. After a few minutes of leaning on the wall, the world returned back to normal and Byleth set off to start his day.

\-----

“ Hey professor, are you ok? You look pale…” Byleth’s attention turned from the board to Hilda who spoke with concern over her professor. Byleth was instructing the Golden Deer house today on combat tactics so he did not expect Hilda to even pay attention during his lecture. The dark-haired man simply nodded as he normally does and went back to explaining the difference between long-range attacks and their advantages. He would never admit it but truthfully he wasn’t feeling the best.His head swam every so often and it feels as though there is a big cloud of haze throughout all his senses. Byleth normally didn't feel emotions very strongly anyways so for them to dampen even more felt off. ‘ _ Maybe you should go to bed early tonight….’ _ Even Sothis’ voice felt more muffled than usual. However this wouldn't stop him, Byeth had a job to do as a professor and one bad day wasn’t going to stop him.

Hilda leaned over to whisper to Claude “Hey Claude you noticed too haven’t you?” She was very worried about the professor as he seemed to sway in place while standing in front of the class.

“Yea you're right Hilda, teach doesn’t look so good right now which is strange cause he usually looks amazing.” He added the last part with a slight wink to the pink haired girl next to him. This comment earned him an elbow to the arm.

“I’m serious claude!” She half whisper yelled to him while the archer gave a slight chuckle and rubbed his arm where she elbowed him.

“I am too Hilda. You know I don’t think I have ever seen him take a break. As soon as class ends I see him running around everywhere.” Claude didn’t take much caution to keep his voice down but it seemed like the professor didn’t notice his ramblings to Hilda. In fact, it seemed like the professor wasn’t paying attention to anything at all, it was like he was on pure autopilot during his lecture. Even Lysithea couldn't get his attention as she loudly raised her hand to ask a question. It was the bell again that brought him out of his autopilot. 

“That’s all for today, remember later on today after dinner all three houses will come to the training grounds for a joint lesson with professor Manuela and Hanneman,” Byleth spoke without a hint of emotion as he slowly packed his materials. Throughout the lecture, the fog in his mind seemed to only get worse and worse and to make matters worse his whole body seemed to shiver violently ever so often. The small bit of rationale that was unclouded in his mind knew that he was ill but his body was already walking out the door and to the bulletin board to see if anyone needed help this week. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There was a lot more love for this story than I ever thought would happen. Thanks, readers! I wrote this all in one go so sorry if there are grammar/spelling errors. I may be in college but I sure am bad at writing. One more chapter after this probably!

Usually, during lunch, he was able to eat a couple of portions and as a result, he was able to invite more people to eat with him but after his lunch with the bickering pair of Ingrid and Sylvain, he felt even more drained than before. The constant arguing never bothered him much since every house is prone to arguments sprouting up randomly during class but this time it was like every syllable was an icepick to his over-exhausted brain. At some point he realized that his plate was still full of food yet he had no appetite left and with a sigh, he excused himself from the table half-heartedly and walked over to Raphael to deposit his food in front of the man. Raphael’s eyes lit up and immediately went to scarf down the food and mutter out a “Thanks professor!” between bites. Leonie and Ignatz, who were sitting next to their food-loving friend both watched as their professor walked out of the dining hall without taking so much of a bite of his meal.

“ Ignatz the professor didn’t eat anything did he?” She frowned at Ignatz across the table.

“ I saw him get a plate of food along with Ingrid and Sylvain but I don’t recall him ever taking a bite.” Leonie only frowned harder at his observation and crossed her arms.

“Maybe I should tell Jeralt cause I doubt the professor would listen to us if we told him to take it easy.” Ignatz gave a slight chuckle “What are you laughing at huh?” Leonie half yelled at him and narrowed her eyes.

“Oh, nothing! I just thought it was kind of funny that _ you _are getting upset at someone overworking themselves.” He gave a slight rub to the back of his head and tried to avoid eye contact with the annoyed lance wielder in front of him. 

\---

Byleth found himself walking all the way to the gate of the monastery where all the shopkeepers congregate to sell their goods. His vision wasn’t quite focusing on any one thing around him but somehow his mind was unclouded enough to hear a shout in his direction.“Hello, professor nothing to report today!” What he thought was a shout to him turned out to be just him standing a foot away from the gatekeeper. “Professor you ok there?” a hand waved in front of his eyes. Had the gatekeeper’s voice always been this loud yet muffled? Before he could ponder why his ears seem to be playing tricks on him he felt two hands grip his shoulders. The gatekeeper was saying something but there was no way to hear him over the ringing inside his head. This ringing was much too high to be from the church bells so where could it be coming from? The ringing dulled right as there was a very loud shriek coming from the direction of the stables. It took him a few moments to register that his feet were already following where the noise came from and ignored the protest by the gatekeeper. He gave a small wave behind him to his favorite gatekeeper and went to investigate.

When he arrived at the stables, it was absolute mayhem. Water was spilled everywhere and collecting in the ridges of the stone, Bernadetta was apologizing to Marrianne so quickly that she wasn’t breathing, and Marrianne was trying to console the girl while also apologizing that this was all her fault anyway. Marrianne was the first one to spot the professor and ran up to him.

“Um, I’m so sorry professor but could you help? Bernadetta was spooked by Dorte and dropped the water pails everywhere and I don't want anyone to get hurt because of me.” The blue-haired girl looked downcast while she wrung her hands nervously. Byleth only could nod and grabbed a broom to sweep the water to a more central location. Marianne went back to trying to consol the poor ashamed Bernadetta.

“I’m s-so sorry M-Marrianne! I knew I shouldn't have left my room.” 

“No no no I'm sorry Bernadetta, I should've noticed Dorte’s uncomfortableness with the new brush I bought for her. It really is all my fault, this wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t been here.”

“No no no! I’m just clumsy I-I got water everywhere and now the professor has to help clean it up and…” While the two girls exchanged apologizes Byleth was already done sweeping the water away from the pathway, the swishing of the water reminded him of the way his head feels right now. The water was captivating enough that his body seemed to mimic the swishing of the water as he swayed from the stables and found himself in front of his own room. The doors to his room never looked so amazing as they do right now. Every bone in his body ached in a way it never has before but just as he’s about to finally lie down he hears the church bell ring. Dinner just ended. He had to teach his class now along with Manuela and Hanneman inside the training ground. He has to do that. He has to go right now. All the students are probably there already as well as his coworkers. _ Damn. _

For better or for worse, the training grounds are relatively close to his room. It took him longer than he would admit to grabbing his sword from his room along with his armor. Now standing in front of the training ground doors, he takes a breath. He completely focuses on pushing his mercenary instincts forward and smothering all emotions. Byleth the professor was no longer in control, now it was the Ashen demon.

\---

All the students’ attention was on their professor who just arrived. Manuela and Hanneman were giving them the basic rundown of the lesson today that consisted of Byleth demonstrating how to properly analyze your opponent and use their flaws to your advantage. The professor’s face normally betrays very little emotion but his face when walking in was downright terrifying how emotionless it was.

“Ah, professor we were just explaining today's lesson if you could come to the front.” Hannaman didn’t seem to notice anything wrong with Byleth as he makes room for the professor to stand in front of the students.

“Now hm… Dimitri come up here. You will spar with the professor first.” Manuela left no room to argue as Dimitri slowly got up and took a spear handed to him by Hanneman. The prince has sparred with Beylth before but standing in front of him now was unnerving in a way he couldn’t describe. Standing in front of him wasn’t the emotionally stunted professor they have all come to love but a complete stranger who wore the face of their beloved professor. 

“Ready and start!”

Before Dimitri can blink Byleth appeared before his face, inches apart. Instinctually, Dimitri jumps backward and swings his spear down hard onto Byleth’s wrist. It makes contact but there was no reaction on his opponent’s side, not even a flinch. This was going to be difficult.

\--

Byleth felt completely out of control of his whole body. None of his movements were made with rationale thought, only pure muscle memory. His body was screaming at him to stop but there was no way he would be able to control his body right now. He couldn’t muster enough strength to overcome the mental block he put forth on his own body. That was until he noticed Dimitri going to slam the back of the spear into his side. His eyes followed the swing but there was no way his body would react in time. The strike hit him directly on the side of his torso, which would normally leave him a slight bit winded, but the force of Dimitri’s overpowering strength and his full-body exhaustion completely wiped him out. Distantly he could hear the sound of his sword dropping and a yelp. Wait, that yelp came from his own mouth. With completely glazed eyes he sees a horrified looking Dimitri and everyone’s concerned faces around him. Then the ground seemed to come into his vision much too fast before complete darkness overtook his vision. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> whoops sorry you guys for how long this took. College is extremely hard and takes first priority but I'm so sorry that I left this alone for so long :( That being said, I am now on winter vacation so I hope to get some more down this month! Again sorry if this has tons of spelling mistakes, I am relying purely on Grammarly to save me.

Dimitri stood there completely still as his classmates let out various cries as the professor crumpled to the ground in front of them. Claude, who was sitting closest to the professor, instantly scrambled to catch the professor before he fully hit the ground. He managed to catch Byleth around the waist and slowly lowered him to the ground, being careful to not hit his head against the ground. Manuela instantly ran up to the unconscious man’s side, “Hanneman get the students out of here!” she yells over her shoulder to the stunned Hanneman standing at the sidelines. Manuela’s shout snapped everyone’s attention and the training room was flooded with voices.

“Is the professor going to be ok?!” “What happened?” “Oh, my goddess…” “I’ll go get Jeralt!” 

“Enough!” Edelgard’s voice boomed over the rest of the students. “Let us listen to Manuela and give her some room to tend to the professor. Hubert help me clear everyone out.” After some menacing stares by Hubert, all the students but the house leaders had been funneled out of the room and taken back to the classroom by Hanneman. Dimitri snapped out of his trance and backed up slightly.

“I-I’m so sorry. Did I cause that? We have sparred many times before but I put too much power into my swing this time. I hurt the professor haven’t I?” Dimitri’s voice slightly quivered as he turned a ghastly pale at the thought of hurting their beloved professor. 

“No, I don’t think you are the cause of this your highness…” Claude mumbled aloud to himself while he was crouched next to the professor with Manuela. 

“Claude, what do you mean by that?” The woman turned sharply to the brunet and gave him a pointed stare.

“Well, earlier today in class the professor seemed really out of it and I seemed to catch a glimpse of one of the gatekeepers having to catch him while they were talking.” Manuela turned her attention to Byleth’s face. She could see that there was a sweat starting to collect on his forehead and his eyebrows were furrowed in discomfort. She brought the back of her hand to the professor’s forehead and cheeks only to recoil sharply. “He’s got a terribly high fever. We need to get it lowered immediately.” She turned to look at Dimitri over her shoulder, “This wasn’t your fault, it was our dear professor’s fault for not telling someone that he was sick today.” She turned her attention to Edelgard and Claude next, “The infirmary is too far and he needs  _ immediate  _ attention so will you three help me bring him to his room, I believe that it’s close to the training grounds.” The two leaders nodded and started to collect Byleth’s things. Mandela worked to remove his armor to make it easier to transport him to which Claude collected the armor in his arms. Edelgard took care to grab the professor’s weapons and other belongs. “Dimitri I need you to carry the professor to his room with us right now.”

“R-Right.” The prince moved to crouch down next to the unconscious man and, as gently he could, lifted him into a bridal carry. With swift steps, he made his way to the professor’s room. The stone road made him extra careful to not trip or jostle the man in his arms as he walked as fast as he could safely. When all four of them reached the room Claude went to hold the door open for Dimitri. The prince gently lowered the sick man onto the bed. Byleth’s breathing came in short pants as he shifted uncomfortably on the bed. 

“Edelgard could you please come with me to get a basin of cool water for the professor, Dimitri please go to the other students and bring back Mercedes and Marianne to help me treat him, and Claude stay here to watch over the professor and yell if his condition worsens.” Manuela made her way quickly to the door, ushering the other house leaders out the room to help her. Claude sighed and grabbed a chair to sit by the professor, “Teach what did you do to yourself, it’s your job to take care of us you know?” He chucked weakly “I bet you that everyone is panicking about you right now. I bet that the prince is the one freaking out the most though. You shouldn’t do stuff like this to him.” The house leader scolded weakly as if the man lying in the bed could hear him and understand the words coming out his mouth. At this point, there was quite of bit of sweat accumulating on the swordsman’s forehead so Claude reached over to wipe it with his sleeve. “Look I even have to wipe your sweat with my sleeve, these uniforms aren’t cheap you know?” 

“...d...a…” Noises made their way out Byleth’s mouth in between his labored breathing. Claude turned and moved his head closer to the professor’s mouth in an attempt to hear what he was mumbling. “...fa..h..er…”  _ Father?  _ The archer let a small smile appear on his lips,  _ ‘So even a stoic mercenary calls for his father while sick.’ _ Claude bought his hand to rub some soothing circles into the professor’s hair to comfort him,  _ ‘It’s ok I’m sure your dad will be here to take care of you soon.’ _

**Author's Note:**

> I just wrote this because there aren't enough Byleth sicfics and I want to see him being cared for by everyone. Sorry if my grammar is awful I'm writing this at 1am. I'll continue this sooner if people want more


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